Newswise — A new study by an international team of collaborators led by researchers at the University of Vienna, and in collaboration with the Dom Museum Wien, aimed to address the questions of whether art exhibitions can make us more empathic or even change our attitudes and behaviors? The researchers were able to show that, indeed, looking through the exhibition reduced xenophobia and increased acceptance of immigration. Even more, by employing a new cellphone-based experience sampling method, they could track how long these changes last. The study was recently published in the American Psychological Association Journal Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts.
"The question of how art might make us more conscious and empathic citizens or modify people’s responses towards societal challenge such as climate change, refugees, is a growing interest for art institutions, artists, and for municipalities and cultural policy makers", says Matthew Pelowski from the Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, lead author of the project. Klaus Speidel, one of the curators of the show adds, "in recent years, there has been a shift in how we view art in our societies. The arts are no longer seen as purely recreational, but rather as a powerful, and often untapped, resource for health, learning, and personal or societal well-being.
" However, Pelowski also suggests, "despite high interest, there is surprisingly little data on whether visiting an exhibition or viewing an ar.